Welcome to our website! You are visiting the home of the Niagara Metros of the Central
Ontario "AAA" Major Baseball League. Since 1985, we've been the home for Elite Senior baseball in
the Niagara region.
MANY CHANGES FOR C.O.B.A. MAJOR BASEBALL LEAGUE IN 2008
As mentioned last week, the first C.O.B.A.
Major Baseball League meeting of the new season took place on Monday evening. And if the outcome of the meeting is any
indication, the league should prove to be very interesting in 2008. There were a number of issues addressed, during
the meeting, which will have implications for every player and coach in C.O.B.A.
Here are some of the changes and
announcements from the meeting...
1. We will have a new team in the
league this season. The C.O.B.A. Major Baseball League has expanded once again to include a "new" team from Clarkson.
You'll recall that a team from Clarkson (the Twins) were league members in 2005 and 2006, but were forced to disband
in '07. With a new coaching staff, and many new players in the fold, the team will be coming back...presumably better
than before.
2. The addition of the new Clarkson
entry meant a re-alignment of the two divisions was in order. This is simply a cosmetic move, as all 11 teams will play
a balanced schedule. The change in Divison format (to accomodate a geographical alignment) has the Milton
Red Sox moving to the Johnson Division, joining St. Catharines, Glanbrook, Burlington and Dundas at the south and western
end of the League. The two Mississauga teams, Clarkson and Mississauga North will move into the Andrews Division, joining
Erindale, Oakville, Brampton and Etobicoke on the League's northeastern perimeter.
3. The addition of the new team
will also require a significant change in the league schedule. The 11 teams will play a balanced 30-game schedule...with
each team playing all the other teams 3 times. This 30-game schedule represents an increase from the 27 games that the
league has played for the last 7 years. The teams have agreed that the best course of action to get these 3 extra
games played, is for every team to play between 2 and 4 scheduled doubleheaders during the season.
4. The new 11-team league also
means a change in the Playoff format is in order. This year, the first place finisher during the regular season
will get a bye into a 6-team double knockout championship tourney on the weekend of August 22 to 24. The other
10 teams will play 2 out of 3 series in the week leading up to that weekend, in order to round out the field for the
final tourney. The 5 winning teams will advance from series that pit the 2nd place team against the 11th place team,
3rd vs. 10th, 4th vs. 9th, 5th vs. 8th, and 6th vs. 7th, with the highest finishing team holding the home-field advantage
in the 2 out of 3's.
5. The C.O.B.A. All-Star game will
be back, after an outstanding game in Oakville in '07. The team will pit the Johnson All-Stars against the Andrews All-Stars,
and this year it will be played on Sunday, July 27th at Bernie Arbour Stadium, in Hamilton. The Glanbrook Grizzlies
will act as hosts for this year's gala event.
These are the highlights of a very busy
kickoff meeting for the C.O.B.A. 2008 season. There will be many more changes and announcements in the coming months,
but for the time being, consider yourself up to date.
1. The next C.O.B.A. Major League
meeting will be next Monday, January 28 in Burlington. This is the annual meeting where specifics for the upcoming season
are discussed and voted on. Likely topics for the meeting next week are:
2008 schedule
Playoff format
Possible League expansion
Umpires
Tournaments
2008 All Star Game
League Fees
and so on...
2. This next couple of weeks will
be your last chance to check out many of the "2007 pages" in our website. Beginning sometime in early February, we'll
be deleting the information on those pages to make room for the 2008 info. Pages affected will be the Roster, Schedule,
Game Reports, Standings / Stats, and our Photo Album. The "Photo Album" page has a great collection from last season,
so if you haven't checked it out in a while, this is your last chance.
3. Our brand new "Showcase Film"
for the period of January 22 to February 5 is one that just about every afficionado of our favourite sport should
be familiar with. It's from 1992...and Tom Hanks makes some interesting observations...
Now that things are beginning to get back
to normal following the Christmas and New Year break, we're looking forward (unfortunately) to a long cold winter, here in
Niagara. Luckily, we've got some young fellows we can follow...playing our favourite sport in more hospitable climates.
So, here is a short list of current and
former Metros with a link to their schools. It will be a nice refresher for the rest of us, stuck in the cold, to think
about our friends playing ball in the warm spring sunshine below the 49th parallel.
Best of luck to the following players
this spring...
Well, here we are in a new year...2008.
In keeping with the feeling of newness, we've made a few subtle changes to our website for '08. Most of them are cosmetic,
such as different font colours and a few new features that we're planning to unveil later in the year, but the essence of
our website remains unchanged. We are still committed to bringing you as much information on the St. Catharines Metros
and the C.O.B.A. Major Baseball League as possible...and maybe entertain you a little bit, along the way.
There are a couple of new things that
we must point out to you, as we get our new year at metrosbaseball.ca underway.
1. Once again, we must thank Shawn
Whiteley, the Brock University Sports Info and Marketing Director, for his excellent work designing our "Welcome Page Montage".
You probably already noticed it as you logged in. It's located just above this blog, right under the Website Title.
Shawn also designed a banner for us that we've located at the bottom of every page of this website. Thanks, again, Shawn...outstanding,
as always.
2. To kickoff our 2008 season we're
continuing our "Showcase Film" feature with something very special. We have posted the original Warner Bros. (Loony
Tunes) production of the original cartoon "Baseball Bugs" from 1938. For those of you that are too young to remember
the "Bugs Bunny" cartoons that were in their heyday during the 1950's, 1960's and 1970's, this is one of the best developed
and funniest cartoon series in television history. For those of us that are old enough to remember...well, just sit
back and enjoy one of the best ever. Bugs Bunny singlehandedly takes on the "evil empire" known as the Gashouse Gorillas
(not the New York Yankees...oops did I actually write that??) Anyway scroll to the bottom of this page and enjoy!!
. The Niagara Metros are very pleased to have Cat's Caboose
Dining Coach and Bar Car as their
corporate partner in 2011.
Click on the logo to visit the Cat's Caboose website.
Located in the heart of Old Glenridge,
Cat's Caboose is one of
St.
Catharines' oldest and most established restaurants.
The place for LIVE ENTERTAINMENT and GREAT FOOD.
.
.
.
Check out ourShowcase Filmfor the period of February 13 to February 27.
Just scroll
to the bottom of this page and press "Play".
__________________________________
Click to visit the "St. Catharines Standard" Website.
Thank You:
To the St. Catharines Standard
for allowing us to use pictures and articles throughout this website.
.
.
Niagara Metros website reaches 100,000 hits on April 18, 2010.
hits since December, 2004
Thanks for visiting
.
.
.
Click the link for Bullett Proof Baseball Academy
The Bullett Proof Prospects and Niagara Metros are partners in providing elite baseball to Niagara.
.
Niagara Metros Bi-Weekly "Baseball Film
Feature"
.
This
week, on our "Baseball Film Feature" section, we have found a little gem that will make any "true ballplayer"
chuckle. It's a hilarious "home-made" film by what looks like a group of U.S. College ballplayers with a great
idea about how we talk about the game we love, but in a language that only we can understand. Check out this video,
and count how many baseball euphamisms you're guilty of saying or doing when your "at the yard". It's a little
3 minute masterpiece entitled "Shit Ballplayers Say". And believe us when we say, "These guys can really
bring the chedd..."
Don't forget to check out the
Metros Archive Section!
You will see the history of
our team, as well as the past glories of St. Catharines Senior Baseball in words and pictures dating back to the 1940's.
Just click on the link near the top of this Main Home Page.
